08/31/2005
The Other August Memo Bush Ignored
Sorry, just had to mock that up.
Even as it took aim at the Gulf Coast and meteorologists were declaring it the fourth most powerful hurricane ever to threaten the U.S., Bush was eating cake with John McCain.
Then, Nero Bush played the fiddle guitar while Rome burned New Orleans sank.
As Katrina struck, Bush vacationed. Cafferty: "Based on his approval rating, based on the latest polls, my guess is getting back to work might not be a terrible idea."
NY Times: Bush "to begin work" on Hurricane TODAY. He's just been too busy finding more ways to rationalize this phony war.
WaPo: Bush approval numbers at all time low. "Gas prices stand to go even higher after Hurricane Katrina's rampage through the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico."
CNN: "Bush, who may visit the area later in the week, cut short his working vacation in Texas by two days -- even though aides have long contended that his duties are uninterrupted when he spends time at his ranch in nearby Crawford, which has White House-level communications capability."
It's a relief he finally noticed that a big thunderstorm had damaged some homes — bet it looked pretty from the plane. But this paragraph begs the question, if Bush actually can do anything in Crawford that he can get done in the White House, as his aides have claimed, why did he need to cut his "vacation" short by two days? Perhaps his business with "Secretary of Clearing Brush" was finished.
And by the way, where the hell is the Democratic party?
What's happening in the Gulf Coast sickens me, and the lack of federal leadership we've seen so far is astonishing.
Posted 12:47 PM EST by Andy Towle in Current Affairs | Permalink
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Before all the conservatives start sniping at Andy keep in mind what your reaction to Bill Clinton would have been if he behaved in the same manner as GWB.... be honest.
Posted by: Donald | Aug 31, 2005 1:12:23 PM
amen, andy!
Posted by: aka frank | Aug 31, 2005 1:28:07 PM
Perhaps he feels it's God's doing and thus he shouldn't interfere?
What? Just tossing it out there....
Posted by: Linear Jones | Aug 31, 2005 1:53:18 PM
SAVE NEW ORLEANS AND THE GULF SOUTH!
Please say something about the worst natural disaster in modern American History! People don't seem to care. On Fox News they are saying, "Why should we spend tax dollars on them, they KNEW it could happen?" WTF! In New York they seem more concerned with oil prices! My city is 80% underwater, at least 30,000 people are not being evacuated. People have no water or food, and people looking for food are called greedy opportunists, LOOTERS! These are poor people who COULDN'T get out; there were no buses sent for them! But they are called STUPID for not leaving, or stupid for living there at all! Poor black people acting desperately in a HORRIBLE situation are being vilified, which in turn is being used by conservatives to divert sympathy and probably relief money. Countless are missing and dead. Bodies are seen floating in the streets of New Orleans. This tragedy is in serious danger of not being fully appreciated by the rest of the country. No bloggers have "Donate to the Red Cross" up - as they did IMMEDIATELY following the Tsunami. Where are our celebrities and telethons? Our National Guard is in Iraq, rather than here saving us as they are meant for. Please SPEAK UP!
-Ralph
http://www.nola.com/
http://www.wwltv.com/
http://www.cnn.com/
Posted by: ralph McGinnis | Aug 31, 2005 1:56:19 PM
Now I feel guilty for joking after Ralph's reply. I have to admit, we've been talking more about gas jumping to $3.09 this morning here in Cincinnati than we have the hurricane.
*clicks the Red Cross link and gets out credit card*
Posted by: Linear Jones | Aug 31, 2005 1:59:30 PM
What's even more astonishing Andy, is that there has NEVER been any real leadership of this country on anything since King George the W and his goons stole the Office of the Presidency. The only real leadership from the Commander in Thief is just that... wholesale theft of money and resources from those that really need it. I've been told there are special places in Hell for his kind.
Posted by: Joebuh | Aug 31, 2005 2:04:44 PM
To be fair, it's a little inconsistent to take Bush to task for his general incompetency and then complain about the fact that he doesn't rush back to DC when there's a disaster. My feeling is that Bush is an idiot in all things and the less he's involved in the Katrina disaster, the better.
Besides which, of course, with regard to something like Katrina, the president (any president) has little to do besides say "yeah, let's do all we can to help." Specific responses to this kind of disaster are not being directed (and should not be directed) out of the White House.
Of course, this is one of the reasons why I get so frustrated seeing the national press racing to promulgate White House propaganda by prominently reporting that "Bush is racing back to Washington and ending his vacation early." It means nothing -- it's just a PR move. It's the President as Daddy -- implying that his involvement will make everything better.
To the extent Bush can do anything to make a difference he could be in Crawford, DC, Nome or Antarctica. Otherwise, leave the guy on vacation -- every minute he spend bicycling with Armstrong or clearing brush or playing the guitar is one fewer minute that he's sending more troops to a corporate war or compromising our civil rights.
Posted by: Buster | Aug 31, 2005 2:07:29 PM
From today's Post:
"Public attitudes toward the war have not changed significantly since the first of the year, the poll found. Slightly more than four in 10 - 42 percent - approved of the job Bush is doing in Iraq; 57 percent disapproved, unchanged in recent months. Slightly more than half - 53 percent - said the war was not worth it, while 46 percent said it was, identical to the results of a Post-ABC poll two months ago. By a 51 percent to 38 percent ratio, the public said the United States is winning the war, despite mounting casualties and insurgent attacks.
A majority (54 percent) continued to say the United States should keep military forces in Iraq until civil order is restored there; 44 percent said U.S. forces should be withdrawn. Six in 10 opposed announcing a timetable for withdrawal. Only about one in eight -- 13 percent -- said U.S. forces should be withdrawn immediately."
Are you one of those 1 in 8 that think we should withdraw immediately?
Posted by: Mitch | Aug 31, 2005 2:24:41 PM
Any reasonable person can see that Bush has us so far into this shithole in Iraq that to pull out immediately would be the worst possible decision. Unfortunately we are now forced to pay the price for Bush's policies for years to come.
But now that you have me going, let's talk about this stampede of Iraqi civilians that happened yesterday. Over 700 are dead and the death toll is supposed to rise to perhaps 1,000. Why the stampede? Because there was a rumor that a suicide bomber was in the crowd. Were there suicide bombings happening in Iraq before we invaded that country? No. Our invasion of Iraq has allowed terrorists to breed and thrive in that country. The deaths of these 1,000 or so Iraqi civilians are therefore a direct result of the American invasion.
Sorry for being a bit shrill, I'm a bit worked up today, as you can see. But this post is supposed to be about the President's inaction on Hurricane Katrina. Let's see how many die there as a direct result of the federal government's inability to coordinate proper relief efforts. What a tragedy.
Posted by: andy | Aug 31, 2005 2:43:21 PM
Andy,
You're making an assumption that the feds have been unable to coordinate the relief efforts. We've never had something of this scale occur. There's only so much you can do when you have no roads, no airport and only so much airlifting power in the area. It takes days to move that amount of stuff into place. The broader question is what is the role of the feds and America at large when people choose to live in areas that are intrinsically unsafe and fail to heed 3 days of warnings to leave.
This is a disaster of a scale we've never seen before, but of course you're just looking for another reason to hate Bush. The presence or absence of the President wouldn't do anything to change any of this, but of course it's never about results, it's about feelings. If only he were there to purse his lips, stick his thumb up, and "feel" they're pain. That wouldn't change anything, just as releasing oil from the SPR won't change anything. We don't have an oil shortage, we have a refinery shortage, but that line of reasoning didn't stop the media and the dems from screaming "release the oil!" Oil that we lack the capacity to refine now.
Posted by: Mitch | Aug 31, 2005 2:56:57 PM
Mitch,
But happily strumming a guitar on the day after a major hurricane with a dumb look on your face -- that doesn't say much either.
Posted by: Ed | Aug 31, 2005 2:58:44 PM
Great compilation Andy,
I too am a bit worked up and am finding it really hard to concentrate.
I spent many an idyllic summer of my formative years bumming around the beaches between my Grandmother’s summer home in Destin, FL and my uncle’s townhouse in the French Quarter. It’s heartrending to see the devastation; to see places I know well completely destroyed. And it’s astonishing and disgusting to see aid so slow to reach these folks.
We knew by at least last Saturday that this was a monstrous storm that was going to obliterate the Mississippi Delta wherever it came ashore. That would have been the time to scramble all available assets and stage them to move into the area as soon as the storm had cleared. Instead, we’re just now calling up military reserves, deploying ships, etc. How long does it take a ship that sets sail from New England today to reach New Orleans? “Too little, too late,” as the Louisiana Governor said. This administration has completely failed on so many levels, but this the coup de grace.
I hope that when people see the suffering on TV, the 1 million plus people who may be homeless and jobless for months; when our fragile economy dips back toward recession, I hope people will remember Bush and his cronies weren’t there. I hope they will remember Bush and his cronies took money earmarked for New Orleans hurricane disaster response and used it to fund tax cuts for the wealthy and fund a phony and illegal war in Iraq.
We have to be there to remind them.
Posted by: Thom | Aug 31, 2005 3:00:28 PM
You're right about that Ed, but I remember getting up Tuesday morning and the general consensus was that this thing wasn't as bad as expected.
Still, I admit the President's media people clearly seem to have a tin ear.
Posted by: Mitch | Aug 31, 2005 3:35:45 PM
Mitch,
You're such an easy target here that rather than spit at you I'm just enjoying a good hearty laugh...thanks for filling me up with so much good humor on such a tragic day. President Bush should hire you because you represent him much better than his own people. Thanks again for the laugh, and for reminding me that I do know better than some.
Posted by: Wayne | Aug 31, 2005 3:41:22 PM
One more thought....
Each of these states has voted to make us second class citizens. The people you see hurting stepped into the voting booth and overwhelmingly passed anti-gay legislation and they'd do it again.
Are you sure you want to help them?
Posted by: Mitch | Aug 31, 2005 4:11:02 PM
I think he was waiting to get out of Crawford and away from Cindy Sheehan for a long time. Hence the trips to Arizona, California, Utah, and Idaho. And Katrina provides the perfect way to get away from cindy permenantly. Now he doesn't have to go back after these short getaways. I hope Cindy moves her campout to Pennsylvania Ave.
Posted by: richard | Aug 31, 2005 4:20:26 PM
Long before the storm hit us, President Bush and the involved state leaders were planning strategies and allocating resources. This is public knowledge, and was widely reported in the days ahead of this disaster.
I have complete faith in the ability of FEMA and state agencies to do the right thing, as soon as the right thing is do-able. The biggest problem facing the recovery effort is the people who are stranded in the affected areas because they refused to heed evacuation orders.
The people who stayed behind, by their own choice, are now sucking up the resources that could be better used for finding long-term housing and care for those who need it.
The moral of this story is two-fold:
One, we are the government. It's our money and Americans are our people. If you are waiting for the government to do something, stop waiting, get off your ass and do it.
Two, if you want government leadership, you have to go where they lead you. When you are told to evacuate, it's for a good reason. I have never a case where people were told to leave their homes for no good reason.
I applaud George Bush and the local leadership in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana for their rapid pre-emptive action, and decisive reaction to this crisis. I will donate GENEROUSLY to the Red Cross, as my part of the recovery effort.
Posted by: jay | Aug 31, 2005 4:22:21 PM
oh mitch, that is low..because someone is doesn't hold your political views it OK to punish them? Dismal.
I had ocassion on Saturday to sit for about five hours with CNN and the forcasters going on and on about this hurricane and I must say, it does seem that this is all a surprise...they seemed to be suggesting it would be horrific, and it has...its not the same as a Tsunami of course, because they have very little time to effect any change...I suppose here in California, if we had 48 hours notice to a major earthquake, we would take it quite seriously...in the end it doesn't matter, people are hurt, cities damaged and frankly, I don't get that Bush went out of his way to ignore...had it been Florida, he might have left vacation even earlier, I suppose.
Posted by: rexless | Aug 31, 2005 4:24:51 PM
Um...are you Bush haters here actually arguing that he should have been tooling around New Orleans yesterday in his presidential limo, inspecting the damage...just in time for the levee to burst over his head and wash him out to sea?
Yes, you guys would have liked that, no doubt.
It does not seem untimely for me to him to be inspecting the damage by air a mere ONE day after the levee burst (which was the real killer disaster, not so much the hurricane the day before).
And he's planning a ground inspection later this week. You guys are making this like this is some unspeakably evil procrastination.
Historical frame of reference time! Hurricane Floyd first touches land Sept 15, 1999. Pres Clinton first visits devastated area on land: Sept 21, 1999. Horrifically insensative Clintonian failure of leadership time: 6 days.
Bush is on day 1. He has 5 days left to equal or beat Clinton's hurricane "on-ground" response time. He is on perfect schedule to do so.
The histrionic hyperbole of you Bush haters here never ceases to amaze me.
Posted by: Cassius | Aug 31, 2005 4:26:19 PM
Cassius, how much property and people were destroyed in Hurricane Floyd? I don't believe it was anywhere near the devastation you're seeing along the Gulf Coast today. However, ANY President, should jump when his country is facing tragedy. Clinton was wrong and so is Bush. This isn't about party affiliation, it's about being human AND being President of the United States...although that term should probably be changed to President of Red States because we're certainly not united anymore.
Posted by: Wayne | Aug 31, 2005 4:38:31 PM
Cassius, meet Mitch...you were made for each other.
Posted by: Wayne | Aug 31, 2005 4:40:16 PM
I don't know what you Bush Slaves are so afraid of regarding any danger he might encounter in the high waters of New Orleans. Haven't you heard: shit floats!
Posted by: Leland | Aug 31, 2005 4:44:35 PM
Right Cassius let's let Bush off the hook by passing judgement on Bill Clinton.
Posted by: Donald | Aug 31, 2005 4:46:46 PM
Not that anyone in this thread suggested such, but the issue here is not the timing of Bush’s tour of New Orleans – that is perfectly acceptable. It was not; however, acceptable for him to remain on vacation as long as he did. He should have made his way back to Washington over the weekend. That’s what any world leader would have done – whether or not there was anything they could do to help. I’m sure there are exceptions, but that is the norm. Thus, criticism of Bush on this issue has come from all sides. It was quite the PR blunder.
If you folks are going to defend the Bush administration, at least come up with a defense. Don’t simply dismiss those who are making credible arguments as being Bush-haters who would like to see him swept out to sea.
Posted by: Thom | Aug 31, 2005 5:01:52 PM
Um...Donald...did you not exhort "conservatives" (of which I'm actually not, but not to digress...) to search our souls and make comparisons to what Clinton would do in similar situations?
That was is none other than comment NUMERO UNO on this thread...so just scroll up and refresh your memory!
And so, I go and make the very comparison you suggest...in fact, I don't have to pretend, I have a real event in 1999 I can compare to...and NOW you are COMPLAINING?!?
LOL!
FWIW, I respectfully disagree with Wayne here. Both Clinton and Bush made the right call to not rush willy-nilly out to do their respective hurricane photo-ops on the ground. A presidential visit saps limited police and security personel better employed in disaster relief and rescue. The visit to the disaster sites should be delayed at least a week or so to avoid being a serious impediment to first responders. I think thats basic common sense.
Posted by: Cassius | Aug 31, 2005 5:09:14 PM